The Cummins B series (3.9L 4 cylinder and 5.9L six cylinder) diesel was developed
in the early 1980's as a joint venture between Cummins and Case tractor.
Cummins was to provide the engine expertise, Case the production volume.
In 1984, an active step van/ bread truck repower program for the Ford E350 and
GM P30 chassis was successfully promoted by Cummins.

As B production capacity expanded, Cummins began actively seeking a major
OEM entry for the 6B 5.9L engine in a pickup truck chassis. The 6B was seen
by Dodge as a possibility for the aging Ram 250 and 350 which had no diesel
option. In late 1986, Dodge and Cummins reached an agreement to target the 1998
model year for the ram diesel. Cumins accepted the engineering challenge
of mating the engine to the existing Dodge Ram chassis. As unseen technical
problems surfaced, the introduction was rescheduled for the 1989 model.

The first year forecast was for less than 8,000 Dodge diesel pickups,
with sales expected to grow by 3,000 trucks each following year. Ram diesel
sales for 1989 surpassed 16,000 trucks and the numbers have continued to grow.

Cummins data indicates that the life of the B engine in a medium duty truck
is slightly over 300,000 miles. Estimated engine life in the pickup is unknown
because few engines have failed or worn out, and there are numerous reports
of over 800,000 miles.

Model Year

Diesel Ram Production

V10 Ram Production

Total Ram Production

1989

16,750 a

NA

?

1990

26,700 a

NA

?

1991

40,180 a

NA

?

1992

46,471 a

NA

74,558

1993

49,226 a

NA

75,166

1994

44,569

5,860

195,372

1995

61,000

?

?

1996

68,041

?

?

1997

75,484

?

?

1998

92,000

?

350,275 b

1999

98,000

over 100,000

428,930

2000

116,000

?

380,874

2001

?

?

?

a TDR - various issuesb Popular Mechanics, May 1998

A few Statistics posted to the DiRT list:

Assembly line - 295 trucks made per shift, two shifts per day. One truck about
every two minutes. From beginning to rolling out the door about 23 hours. In
each shift about 55 tractor trailers deliver parts ready for assembly. 45% of
the trucks from the St.Louis plant are diesels.

Cummins Inc. (NYSE:CUM) announced today that for the seventh year in a row
Cummins has shipped a record number of engines for the Dodge Ram pickup. Cummins
shipped 116,000 24-valve turbo diesel engines to DaimlerChrysler for the 2000
model year Dodge Ram pickup. This represents a 20 percent increase over engine
shipments for the 1999 model year.

The Dodge Ram was the fourth best-selling light vehicle in North America for
the 1999 calendar year, according to Automotive News. Cummins 24-valve turbo
diesel engines are offered in the 2500 and 3500 series Dodge Ram pickups and
were the engine choice for more than 70 percent of those trucks for the 1999
model year. For all Dodge Ram pickups including the 1500 series, Cummins is
found in more than 25 percent of those vehicles.